eBay Acquires StumbleUpon
San Jose, May 30, 2007
eBay Inc. (Nasdaq: EBAY) today announced it has acquired
StumbleUpon, an early-stage company that helps people discover
and share content online, for an aggregate transaction value of
approximately $75 million. This acquisition will provide eBay
with in-depth exposure to a fast-growing community-based service
with approximately 2.3 million users. StumbleUpon gives people a
new way to discover relevant and entertaining content based on
personal preferences and community recommendations.
"StumbleUpon is a great fit within our goal of pioneering new
communities based on commerce and sustained by trust," said,
Michael Buhr, senior director, eBay. "StumbleUpon's downloadable
toolbar provides an engaging and unique experience to its users,
but it is the similarities in our approaches to the concept of
community that make it such a compelling addition to eBay."
Driven by word-of-mouth, the StumbleUpon community has grown
150 percent year over year and delivers approximately five
million new recommendations a day to its large, highly engaged
user base. StumbleUpon allows people to discover Web sites,
people, videos, product information, communities and other
online content based on personal interests. By allowing its
community to rate the content, StumbleUpon gets smarter as it is
used and provides an increasing level of relevance over time.
Said Garrett Camp, chief architect and one of three
StumbleUpon founders, "We're excited about joining eBay, as we
share the same values around community and we look forward to
working with them to accelerate our growth."
Buhr will serve as general manager of StumbleUpon effective
immediately. StumbleUpon's current founders and management team
will remain in their respective positions and will work with
Buhr to enhance the user experience, evolve its unique product
and grow the community.
eBay does not expect this acquisition to have a material
impact on its financial guidance as issued in conjunction with
its first quarter earnings release on April 18, 2007.
About StumbleUpon
StumbleUpon helps you discover and share great Web sites and
videos. With approximately 2.3 million users and approximately
five million recommendations daily, StumbleUpon is one of the
most popular new ways to discover content on the Web. The
company was founded in 2001 and is based in San Francisco. For
more information, visit
www.StumbleUpon.com.
About eBay Inc.
Founded in 1995, eBay Inc. connects hundreds of millions of
people around the world every day through commerce, delivering
fun, engaging and trusted online experiences. We are constantly
finding new ways to empower people worldwide to explore, learn,
shop, share and talk with each other. Since its inception, eBay
Inc. has expanded to include some of the strongest brands in the
world, including eBay, PayPal, Skype, Shopping.com, and others.
eBay Inc. is headquartered in San Jose, California.
Forward-Looking Statements
This announcement contains forward-looking statements, including
statements regarding eBay, StumbleUpon and the expected impact
of eBay's acquisition of StumbleUpon on eBay's financial
guidance. Those statements involve risks and uncertainties, and
actual results could differ materially from those discussed.
Factors that could cause or contribute to such differences
include, but are not limited to, risks associated with the
reaction of competitors to the transaction, and the possibility
that the expected benefits of the acquisition of StumbleUpon may
not materialize to the extent expected or at all. More
information about potential factors that could impact eBay's
business and financial results is included under the captions,
"Risk Factors" and "Management's Discussion and Analysis of
Financial Condition and Results of Operations," in eBay's Annual
Report on Form 10-K for the fiscal year ended December 31, 2006
and Quarterly Report on Form 10-Q for the quarterly period ended
March 31, 2007 which are on file with the U.S. Securities and
Exchange Commission (the "SEC") and available at the SEC's
website at www.sec.gov. All forward-looking statements are based
on information available to eBay on the date hereof, and eBay
assumes no obligation to update such statements.